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Since making this post 2yrs ago Gates has signed to Pure Noise Records and re-released their 2nd EP “All You Have Left To Fear” through Pure Noise Records. It has been remastered with an additional song added to the EP called “Skyline” which you can listen/watch the video for (3rd video below). Scroll down to listen to the remastered EP.

The band is now gearing up for the release of their first full length album with 13 brand new songs. The album is called Bloom & Breathe. It will be released on October 21, 2014 through Pure Noise Records. They have released a music video for the song “Not My Blood” from the album. (check out the awesome video below.) You can pre-order the album that comes in many bundle options here. Or pre-order it on Itunes (The album cover artwork is very well done and nice!)

Check out a very good live studio session performance the band did for Audiotree live. (second video from the top)

Check out Gates website for more info about their upcoming 1st full length album Bloom & Breathe and those first 2 EPs.

(Original Post:)
I have been listening to this band Gates since last year when they first self-released their debut EP The Sun Will Rise and Lead Me Home. They are a very good band and have beautiful songs you can get lost in the music with. The music is calm and serine at times then goes into a burst of energy that compliment the calm parts before it. The guitars just sound so good! with them just having awesome riffs that go along with the melodic drums and come together in those burst of energy. If you like the bands Moving Mountains or Explosions In The Sky like I do you will definitely like Gates. If you haven’t heard of those bands either Google them and listen to them really go stuff as well!

Gates just self-released their new EP last week called You Are All You Have Left To Fear and it just shows they have gotten even better at their craft and song writing definitely check it out. They do it all DIY and have great art as the artwork and layouts of the eps.

In San Diego Chargers history there are three distinct eras: the Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow, and Don “Air” Coryell Era; the Junior Seau, Stan Humphries, and Bobby Ross Era; and the LaDainian Tomlinson Era. Now I wasn’t alive for the Fouts/Coryell Era but I’ve seen the games/highlights from that time. I have been very lucky to witness live history in the making with the 90s era/Super Bowl appearance, and of course the greatness and legacy that is LaDainian Tomlinson and how he turned around the organization, making it into a winning team a couple years after that 90s Super Bowl era. He is the reason we have all those great players on the team today. LT had the chance to learn from some of the players from that Super Bowl team as a rookie, specifically gaining knowledge from Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison. He learned from greatness right from the start on how to carry oneself on and off the field, and how to give back to the city of San Diego through charity work and events to raise money for charitable organizations. He also learned how to be a great role model for many young Chargers fans, including myself, and of course for older Bolts fans as well.

Source: Chargers.com

Players like LaDainian Tomlinson, along with Junior Seau, don’t come around that often. That is why if your team is lucky enough to get players like them you do all you can to keep them on your team for as many years as possible. Along with that comes the millions of fans from the city and worldwide who will never forget them once they retire. They have left a very big mark on the team and organization that will last forever. Not only by what they did on the field for years, week in and week out, but also for what they did during the week before the Sunday games, being out in the city talking to fans, doing charity events, and helping out the less fortunate in the city to help brighten their day or year, and even helping them get their lives back on track. That is why so many of us have their jerseys and still wear them all the time today. Those jerseys and numbers stand for something more than just what they do on the field. Those lightning bolts on those jerseys stand for the greatness they are as people. Even if we have never met them in person their message struck a chord with us and shows what a lightning bolt of positivity can do in this world by doing things the right way in life.

Source: Chargers.com

Even today at LaDainian’s retirement press conference he stood there shining as bright as the lightning bolts on his jersey. He expressed his gratitude and thanks to the organization, and his family and mother, for giving him and us fans some of the greatest memories we will carry with us forever. His smile says it all. That is what a true success is supposed to look and sound like. Be grateful for all the positive things that have happened in your life, always smile, and be happy you have been able to have those experiences. As you carry those things with you, along the way you will gain respect and admiration, and be an inspiring figure to those around you, giving them a feeling that will stay with them and make them want to be better people in their own lives and pass that positivity on to others. So in a way LaDainian is still scoring touchdowns to this day. We are still chanting LT! LT! He is now handing the ball off to all of us so we can all run down our own field to score touchdowns and make our own greatness in our daily lives; to remember why we are here in the first place – Do what we love, have fun, always smile, family is what is important in life, and be a positive influence to those around us. That is the greatest touchdown we will ever score in our lives. Thank you LT for all the great memories on and off the field. We will carry them, and the positive life lessons you have given to everyone, with us forever.

Evaluation: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had a very headline-making offseason with their new head coach, former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. With this hire, the team is hoping for a fresh start and an improvement from last season. Starting off with the signing of the most wanted WR in free agency, Vincent Jackson, to help give developing QB Josh Freeman a new weapon down field, thus putting everyone on notice that the team is determined to improve and become a contender in the league with a very solid draft.

With Greg Shiano’s knowledge of defense and DB’s the team is going to turn around last year’s defense (which was league ranked very near the bottom) with very solid defensive draft picks in standout SS Mark Barron from Alabama. Along with more defensive players that fly around the football with great speed and have great football instincts on the field in OLB Lavonte David, ILB Najee Goode and CB Keith Tandy. With the resigning of DB Ronde Barber and signing DB Eric Wright these new rookie weapons in the back of the defense will get some great info and help getting accustomed to the game at the next level by these veterans. Along with the team signing more than a handful of Shiano’s former players who played for him at Rutgers to help players out in the transition to Shiano’s terminology and getting acclimated to how he runs the team.

The offense also got some great additions most notably in the back field with two RB’s in Doug Martin and Michael Smith. These picks will give a nice two RB change of pace, along with the resigning of RB LeGarrette Blount in the back field and keep fresh legs for all three RB’s during games with a rotating back field. The Buccaneers will most definitely be about physical defense and run game this season along with QB Josh Freeman who looks to turn around his performance from last year. He’ll continue developing with new weapons around him to help out in his progress.

Along with the offensive line looking to improve to give Josh the time to use his new weapons and giving the RB’s holes to run through. Look for the Bucs to start making some noise this season as they start their steady climb from the back of the NFC South pack. It may not be this season we see the full vision of what this team can become down the road with these new weapons and new head coach. Once the team and players get accustomed to how Greg Schiano runs things – seeing how the players/new players respond to each other and work together this year and the years to come – the Buccaneers can become a very solid contender with a very physical and solid defense and run game.

Josh Freeman needs to make big strides this year in the passing game and his mental game for all this to come together as a great team. If he can, it will be fun to watch down the road once he can just let the football fly. Keep your eyes open this season to watch what hopefully will be the start of the turnaround for this franchise.

These past couple of days have been tough for Kris Dielman, no doubt. The lead up to this announcement has been tough on us fans as well. Kris has always been an anchor for the Chargers. Not only on the offensive line, but for the organization as well. He represents countless core players that have helped and shaped the organization, and making the Chargers into one of the top contenders in the league year in and year out. He is the perfect example of what other players coming into the league and joining the Chargers should look at in terms of how to be a successful football player. He has shown that if you work hard and have fun doing what you love, no matter the amount of money, you will leave a mark in this league and a lasting impression on the players you go into battle with every week. He proved that by working hard you will get noticed and recognized by the league, your teammates and the fans. He showed that he didn’t need to have all that flash and a one-man-show. He allowed his plays on the field and the bonds he made with his teammates to earn him the respect he deserves and gave everyone a solid foundation to build on to keep going. The fact that he was consistent and successful at his craft, and strived to continue that performance every season. That held more weight in the end and for that, he will always be remembered as one of the greatest Charger players in history.

Kris has given us fans so many lasting memories over his nine years here in San Diego and Charger fans around the world that will stick with us forever. That memorable 2006 season when his favorite type of offense to run was front and center with the run game and the dominance of his play along with that great OLine blocking for who would become the rushing title holder and the MVP of the league, LaDainian Tomlinson. Now think back to that game when Tomlinson broke the touchdown record, and what he said after the game. After the last touchdown before the one that broke the record he told the OLine guys and teammates to join me him in the endzone. LT knew he was not the MVP and he knew the guys up front were the MVPs that year. He wanted to share what all of them had accomplished together as one solid unit gone into battle week after week having each other’s back in the trenches. Kris was part of that MVP line that will go down in Chargers history and a shining moment for us fans that we will never forget.

Kris and the OLine set the tone for how the team carried itself and how they played each week. He and the others were the true quarterback of the Chargers. He and his friends on the front line protected each other in battle and knocked out anyone who would try to break that bond. As Philip Rivers told the story of what would happen before each game, you can see that bond that is so strong nothing can break it. “Before each game, I usually give the guys on the OLine a head-butt before we hit the field. I would hit each guy, but Kris would pull me in tight and say, ‘LEAD US!’” Well Kris, you and your friends on the OLine are the ones who led this team year in and year out. You will always be remembered as a leader of the Chargers and a fan favorite. From all of us Charger fans around the world we say, “THANK YOU for an awesome nine years! You are one of the greats to ever wear those Lightning Bolts! Thank you for the great memories. Thank you for leaving an impression that will last forever.

Below are excerpts of what Dielman’s teammates had to say about him (read the article in its entirety here):

Offensive Line Coach Hal Hunter:“I think he epitomizes the old-school, self-made player. Just a tough, hard-nosed, blue-collar type guy. And he had all those other things that didn’t take talent like toughness, work ethic and dependability. He was really, really smart and he combined all those things to be the player that he was. He had everything in a player that you could want… He was really an easy guy to coach. I’ll miss the attitude that he brought to the meeting room, to practice and to the game. There’s a lot of guys who are tough, but Kris was intimidating. Guys didn’t want to mess with him. He intimidated his opponent and he did it to the point where the guy he was battling didn’t want to deal with him anymore.”

C Nick Hardwick:“It has been an honor to play next to Kris for so many years. His loyalty and toughness gave me and the guys who played with him a sense of security, knowing that we had the baddest guy on the field. And we knew nobody wanted to find out how bad a dude he was…. He taught us about loyalty, will power and friendship. I will certainly miss being in the huddle standing next to my best friend and personal protector.”

RT Jeromey Clary:“He’s one of the best offensive linemen I’ve ever played with and one of the best I’ve ever watched. It’s been an honor to work with the guy. He’s an extremely talented guy and works hard. It’s amazing to come in on Mondays and you’d watch film and some of the stuff he would do, you’d just go, ‘I can’t believe that this guy is doing this kind of stuff to other NFL football players. He did some stuff that just was unbelievable and we truly enjoyed working with him and I’m really, really happy that he was on our team most of the time, because if I was a D-lineman I wouldn’t want to face him on Sundays and I’m sure a lot of people we played against didn’t really want to have to deal with him either. He was a high-motor guy who was extremely strong and had a lot of talent. There are a lot of things there with that combination that made him a very dangerous football player.”

Head Coach Norv Turner:“Kris has been a great player for the Chargers from the moment he was inserted into the lineup. He’s one of the most competitive, physical and dependable players I have ever been around.”

QB Philip Rivers:“As a player, you wish you had 53 Kris Dielmans on your team, just because of how much he cared and how hard he played. We won a bunch of games because of him. He had a lot to do with our success offensively.

“I love the guy and I loved playing with him. I’ll always have great memories of him being right there with me at left guard and us being out there playing together. He meant a great deal to this team when he was here and he was a guy that earned everything he got. I’m not talking financially. He earned the position he got as a Pro Bowl left guard, one of the best guards in professional football. He came here as a free agent defensive lineman and worked and worked and worked to get where he was.

“He loved being a teammate. You always appreciate those kind of guys and he was one of them. As a teammate, you wouldn’t want anybody else. That’s the kind of teammate you want playing in front of you as a quarterback. What a presence he had in that huddle. He’s been described as a nasty player, but to me what stood out was that he played offensive line the way it’s supposed to be played. He played to the whistle and after the whistle and he played as hard as he could. He played the way you’d play in the back yard and that’s the way I’ve always tried to play. He did that at his position.

RB Ryan Mathews:“Coming in as a rookie, he really helped me out a lot. He showed me that he really cared and he really believed in me. He was probably the first guy that I clicked with, one of the first linemen to accept me into the group of guys… He’s so tough and he’s so aggressive. He loves to play the game of football. You can just tell he was born to play. Everything he did, he did it to the best of his ability. He made sure that he was doing everything right.

“I’m going to miss him a lot. I have a lot of love for Diel. It’s going to be real tough to replace a guy like that. You don’t find guys like that very often. Me personally, it sucks. It sucks from a professional standpoint of him blocking for me, but as a friend, from that standpoint, with him retiring, I’m really going to miss him a lot.”

Other players – current and former teammates – took it to Twitter to say what they wanted to say about one of the league’s best players:

(Article originally written for/on rockthebolt.com on: January 10, 2012)

Source: houstontexans.com

Congrats to the Houston Texans for getting their first playoff win in their franchise’s history. Saturday afternoon they played great football against another rookie quarterback- run offense in the Bengals. This Texans team has what a team needs to go far in the playoffs: defense, a run game, outstanding offensive line play, and a big threat receiver down field. Also, don’t forget, a rookie quarterback who can make the throws when needed and one who operates the offense smoothly. Yates looks comfortable in the pocket due to that wall in front of him, a group that had a very nice game in the trenches on Saturday, both in the passing and running game. This offensive line opened huge holes for Foster and Tate to run through. It was great seeing them operate so well, everyone doing their assignments dominating the defensive line and making them a non factor in the game, with their running backs having quickness right after getting the ball and exploding for big gains down the field on almost every play. Not to mention while getting those big gains, their wide receivers gave them lanes to run through by doing a great job of run blocking down field and taking defensive backs/linebackers completely out of those long run plays. After that it’s just a chance for the running backs to show their talents and vision when running. On Saturday this was all on full display, and they sealed the win with the breakout run by Foster in the 4th while breaking tackles to get in the end zone.

Now for Yates to have Andre Johnson catch those passes on the other end of his throws must be nice! As we all saw on that long throw to him while Johnson got “pac-man” Jones to bite on his double move, which in turn left him wide open for his touchdown catch. It sure does take some pressure off of Yates to not have to try and force balls into coverage and just be able to throw it up and let Andre do what he does best. This also goes for the rest of the receiving core and the offensive coordinator calling plays and crossing patterns down in the middle of the field giving Yates the change to see the whole field clearly, allowing him to be able to make the right reads and the great throws. The team sure knows what they have in Yates and what his strengths are, and they play to them so well. It is also nice to have veteran quarterbacks on the sideline helping him out with play calls to the offensive coordinator and what to watch out for in Delhomme, Garcia, and of course Matt Schaub. All their information is valuable and you can see he is soaking it all in and using it to the fullest.

Now on the other side the team has a very good defense, and the man at the helm, Wade Phillips, sure knows how to run it very well. The defense is aggressive and swarms to the ball, and the defensive line did their part on Saturday swatting down Dalton’s throws at the line and getting a pick six off one in the process. That line is constantly pressuring the quarterback, which will be very helpful when they go up against a good team in Baltimore this weekend. With pressure comes forced throws which allows the secondary to have fun and go after the ball and give their offense plenty of chances to operate. Now as for their fans, they did an awesome job in being the extra player on the field on Saturday by getting their stadium so loud! You could see that Dalton had a tough time hearing the play calls in his helmet at times. That is great to see from the home team’s crowd and how it should be always! The fans delivered in helping the team win with their loud party-like atmosphere in Houston. Sure was a sight to see on TV. Great job, Texans fans! And also to the city of Houston for their first win in the playoffs! If the Texans can play like they did on Saturday they have a great shot against Baltimore. Hey, anything can happen, right?!? Just ask the Steelers! Best of luck to you in the playoffs, Texans and their fans! Don’t sleep on the Texans; they can make noise in these games!

Bolts fans, it has been awhile since we have seen Antonio Gates do what we’ve been used to seeing him do for the majority of his career – running in the middle of the field, boxing out his defenders, making critical plays for first downs, scoring touchdowns, and seeing that fire out of him after he scores in the end zone.

For the past few seasons he has been battling foot injuries, as we all know. Which has held him back from going all out on the field and be effective. I remember going to training camp during the year he got plantar fasciitis. Seeing him trying to workout on the second field by himself while his teammates were in full pads getting ready for that season was not a good sight. He’s had spurts of his old self since but nothing like earlier in his career. Chalk that up to getting a little bit older and having the healing process slow down as a result.

Source: chargers.com

Fast-forward to this season and dealing with the re-aggravated foot injury that hadn’t fully healed since, at the start of the season. Again, not full strength and on the sidelines in the Chargers clothing cheering on his teammates was not what Chargers fans wanted to see Antonio doing.

Now, since he’s been back on the field, Antonio looks like he has that fire again! Making great catches and picking up 1st downs/moving the chains on scoring drives, occupying the middle of the field so his teammates Malcom Floyd and Vincent Jackson can come back in the mix as well. As we have all seen these past weeks, all three have been getting involved like it was supposed to be this season, each getting multiple catch games and touchdowns. The Antonio Gates we are seeing now is the one we have all grown to love since he’s been here. Let’s hope it continues so the Chargers can finish the season on a strong note!

At the end of Sony’s Playstation E3 presentation they saved their top title to unveil last. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The small teaser below shows off amazing graphics with voice overs from the characters: Nathan Drake, and Sully. From the dialogue this might/may be the final/last? uncharted game. We’ll see once more info comes out in the lead up to its release sometime in 2015. Either way can’t wait!

Update: Video 2 is a video w/Naughty Dog The Last of Us creators/Uncharted 4 game directors: Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann about the development of Uncharted 4.

Batman Arkham Knight is the third and final game in the Batman Arkham series made by Rocksteady games. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City being the first two. At E3 2014 they finally showed some game play footage and wow it looks so good! In Arkham Knight you will finally get to drive around in the batmobile and launch out of it and glide through the sky! check it out below.